Northwestern coach Bill Carmody can rest easy tonight because his team sits atop the Big Ten.
With a 73-52 win against Indiana on Wednesday before 7,001 fans, the Wildcats claimed their first win in a conference opener since 1983. NU (8-5, 1-0 Big Ten) now has won three straight against the Hoosiers (5-7, 0-1) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The win marked NU’s largest margin of victory against Indiana since 1914, when the Cats defeated the Hoosiers 40-16.
“I thought (last night) was our best game so far this season,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “You have to protect your home court. If you’re going to do anything in the conference, you must win at home.
“I thought tonight was a start.”
In a span of seven seconds during the second half, the Cats put the Hoosiers away.
Forward Vedran Vukusic dunked with 12:52 left, which was set-up by a brilliant play from junior guard Mohamed Hachad.
Hachad picked Indiana guard Bracey Wright’s pocket on the sideline, and then found a charging Vukusic with a quick bounce pass to the other side of the floor.
The bucket put the Cats ahead 43-32, and Indiana would get no closer than six points the rest of the way.
Center Mike Thompson kept the momentum going on the Hoosiers’ next possession with a resounding rejection of a layup attempt by Wright.
“That took them out of the game a lot,” Thompson said. “It took the air out of their whole team because our crowd started to get going. I think that (series) right there sealed the game.”
Despite the contest’s outcome, Welsh-Ryan Arena had a more ominous feel before the game. When the Cats ran out onto the floor for pre-game warmups, junior point guard T.J. Parker was sitting at the end of the bench dressed in a purple warm-up suit.
According to team spokesman Mike Mahoney, Parker woke up Wednesday morning very sick. Carmody then had to go to his next option in senior guard Michael Jenkins, with the decision coming shortly before game time.
Jenkins took charge, leading the team with seven rebounds and playing the role of floor general smoothly. He finished the game with a career-high eight points, two steals, and only three turnovers.
“Mike Jenkins did a nice job of running the team tonight,” Thompson said.
But the muscle inside once again proved to be a different Mike. Duke transfer Mike Thompson outplayed heralded freshman D.J. White in the paint all game and finished with a career-high 18 points, three rebounds and one key blocked shot. His one blemish was his low rebounding total, three.
“I thought it was Mike’s best game by far, no question about that,” Carmody said. “He’s a presence in there, so I was very pleased with him.”
Battling poor shooting at the free throw line all season, Thompson raised his numbers with a 4-of-8 effort at the charity stripe. He entered the game shooting 38 percent this season.
Thompson also continued his success on defense, holding White to 12 points.
“He’s a young guy, and he was talking a little bit down there,” Thompson said. “I didn’t like that too much, but he’s a good player.”
NU’s defense shut down Indiana, forcing three shot clock violations and holding the Hoosiers to a 35 percent field goal percentage.
Wright entered the game averaging nearly 19 points per game as the Big Ten’s leading scorer. But NU limited him to seven points on 2-of-7 shooting including 0-for-4 downtown and five turnovers.
“Everything we ran, they did a good job of switching,” Indiana coach Mike Davis said. “We reacted slowly and took everything very careless.”
Reach Zach Silka at [email protected].
